Microsoft Flight Simulator let people fly into Hurricane Laura
Virtual storm chasers got a unique look at Hurricane Laura without facing any danger.
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What you need to know
Microsoft Flight Simulatoris loved for its realism, but recent meteorological events have shed some light on a feature some haven’t focused on, real-time weather updates. Microsoft worked with Meteoblue to map real-world weather into Microsoft Flight Simulator. Now, people are taking advantage of this feature to fly into, around, and above recreations of Hurricane Laura.
Mathias Müller, Meteoblue’s co-founder, discussed recreating Hurricane Laura in a statement toThe Verge:
Yesterday’s hurricane was very beautiful to look at and was accurately predicted by our models even days ahead … We are very happy that real-time weather is now part of Flight Simulator. It was a long journey as integrating these massive amounts of data required the solution of many problems. From our end, we would like to have even more details and weather parameters we already compute for our customers and the meteoblue.com website inside the game, but the development on the game side is extremely complex and takes time.
Many people have shared screenshots and videos of themselves virtually flying in and around Hurrican Laura. The images andvideosshow off the game’s hyper-realistic modeling, which utilizes Microsoft’s Azure.
Above & around Hurricane LauraMicrosoft Flight Simulator (Live Weather)pic.twitter.com/T7v8aJ0jhGAbove & around Hurricane LauraMicrosoft Flight Simulator (Live Weather)pic.twitter.com/T7v8aJ0jhG— Petri Levälahti (@Berduu)August 27, 2020August 27, 2020
Hurricane Laura is a powerful storm that became a Category 4 hurricane before making landfall. At points, its winds reached 150mph. It has since weakened to a Category 1 hurricane. Seeing the storm recreated within Microsoft Flight Simulator gives people a unique perspective of the storm and gives some of a gauge of its size.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 has taken to the skies, promising a cloud-powered globe, with authenticity on an unmatched scale. It’s out now exclusively on Windows PCs, offered in three flavors.
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When you happen to be restricted by a small budget but want something better than a mouse and keyboard for Microsoft Flight Simulator, this is the perfect all-in-one solution.
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Sean Endicott is a tech journalist at Windows Central, specializing in Windows, Microsoft software, AI, and PCs. He’s covered major launches, from Windows 10 and 11 to the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT. Sean’s journey began with the Lumia 740, leading to strong ties with app developers. Outside writing, he coaches American football, utilizing Microsoft services to manage his team. He studied broadcast journalism at Nottingham Trent University and is active on X @SeanEndicott_ and Threads @sean_endicott_.
